Fort Worth Fun: Brewery Tour & The Stock Yards

After driving half-way across the country and getting settled in our temporary Texas home we had our first visitor. One of Jeff's best friends, Ed, lives in Tyler and drove up for a Saturday of Fort Worth Fun.

We were so excited to explore our new home that as soon as Ed stepped into our apartment we were rushing him back out the door to the Rahr & Sons Brewing Company. Turns out this place is walking distance from our downtown location s0 there was no need to drive - who knew? Anyway, Rahr has Brewery tours and tastings every Wednesday and Saturday and this is a must do for your time in Fort Worth. There is a $7 entrance fee for 3 tastings, which are more like full pints, plus you get to keep your Rahr glass. (You can see our glasses sitting in the conveyor belt in the lower right hand side of the picture) In addition to the tour and tastings there was food for purchase and live music - making it the perfect Saturday afternoon outing. I would recommend walking if you are going to to complete your three "tastings" or make this your whole days activity. With more of Fort Worth to explore, we gave away our remaining tickets and headed to the Stock Yards.

The Fort Worth Stockyards are on the other side of downtown, so three minutes later we were parked and walking down the stockyard streets. While the area has a bit of a touristy feel, it has become one of my favorite places. On this particular Saturday afternoon, we arrived just in time to see the 4pm cattle drive heading our way. Twice a day (11:30am and 4pm) the world's only twice daily cattle drive of city owned longhorn come straight through the stockyards for all to see. After the cattle drive is over you can walk up on an elevated walkway over the cattle pens for a real up close view of the animals.

If your down at the stockyards you might as well head into the Stockyards Museum. (Admission to the museum is by donation - a $2 donation is suggested.) Initially it is hard to tell if you have entered a museum or a store, as the two share the small space. There is a collection of barbed wire, the cursed wedding dress that inspired a book and other strange Texas collections. The highlight of the museum is the "Eternal Light." As the second oldest continuously burning light bulb in the world, it draws the most attention. It was screwed into its socket in 1908 over a stage door in the Fort Worth Opera House , but has since been moved, while encased and still lit, into the Stockyards Museum. Once you stare into the Eternal Light you'll think "they sure don't make 'em like they used to." In case you can't get to Fort Worth in time, because, lets face it, the light will eventually go out, I've included a picture of the Eternal Light from our January visit at the bottom of this post. (I know your dying to know that the world's oldest continuously burning light bulb is in a fire house in San Jose.)

Another worthy stop while you are down at the Stockyards is the Texas Cowboy Hall of Fame. Admission is $5, but it is free for Active Duty Military. Each Hall of Fame inductee has a little "stall" featuring information and memorabilia. I was amazed at how many of the names I recognized! The more modern inductees have videos you can watch showing them roping or bull riding. The museum also has quite the collection of things that horses pulled - everything from old stagecoaches to more modern farm wagons. This museum appeals to the little cowboy and girl in all of us - the one that used to run around in the backyard on the toy horse. If you have little ones with you there is plenty of room to run around and there some some exhibits aimed at kids.

The stockyards have plenty of other attractions to offer - but we didn't want to do it all in one day. If you are only in town for the weekend you could spend a whole afternoon down here - there are plenty of touristy shops to go into, fake gunfights and even a mini rodeo you can attend. We were pretty tuckered out (probably from the early brewery visit) so we headed back to the apartment for a home cooked meal.

If your just visiting Fort Worth, military lodging is available through the Naval Air Station, Joint Reserve Base - its only 20 min from the downtown and has a commissary and other services.


Alright... I know this is what you have been waiting for. Please enjoy the really old light bulb!

Cowboy Poker

One of the highlights of the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo is Bulls Night Out. This is a full night of bull riding - 40 riders and more bulls that you can imagine. During a break in the bull-riding they play "Cowboy Poker". Five cowboys sit at a table and they let a bull run free in the arena - the last one sitting gets $500. Check out the video because I am pretty sure its not worth the $500.

Thanks to Bethany for shooting this amazing video. You can even hear her exclaim "Oh No" at the end when you think the cowboy is down for the count. As a note - he walked out of the stadium $500 in hand.

The GA Coast

Kymberly Dunlap is a dear friend and author of the book Saint Mary's College: Her Memories Beyond the Avenue. In January Kym and her fiance visited my parents in Atlanta on their way down to the Michigan bowl game. Around the breakfast table a southern road trip was born. She shares her January trip down the Georgia Coast with us.

It was during our warm Southern visit to the Jablonski-Diehl household during the holidays that we learned about Savannah, Jekyll Island, and Amelia Island. As Darin and I heard about these wonderful places, we decided that we had to stop at each of these locations on our journey to Jacksonville.

We arrived in Savannah just in time for lunch. We instantly fell in love with the Spanish moss covered trees. Even though we were starving, we had to capture the stunning foliage. After a few keepsake photos, we ate at a tourist eatery alongside the river, then ventured into the famous squares. The squares felt homey and slightly enchanted. The Southern architecture of the homes, Churches and storefronts along with those Spanish moss covered trees is so special and should be treasured by residents, but especially visitors.

After walking among the many squares, we made our way to SCAD (Savannah College of Art & Design) per Judge Diehl’s recommendation. The merchandise was a bit pricey; however, they definitely had one of a kind artistry that was worth taking a piece back home. http://www.shopscadonline.com/home.html

Just before dusk, we journeyed towards Jekyll Island. We stayed at the Jekyll Island Hotel Club, which is a true romantic Victorian beauty and definitely worth another stay. http://www.jekyllclub.com/ Since we arrived after dark, we couldn’t wait to see what the hotel and island looked like during the morning.

Just so you know if you already don’t, Jekyll is a lot less commercial than Nantucket or Martha’s. We rented bikes from the hotel to take a tour around the island. We walked along the beach searching for shells and spotted the Hollywood set of the next X-Man movie. We didn’t know what to expect of the island. During our bike ride, we assumed that we could grab some lunch, around lunchtime. Bad assumption. Almost all of the restaurants close by 2p until dinner. We biked back to the Jekyll Club and finally discovered that Crane Cottage, a historic building on the Club property. It’s anything but a cottage, but rather a villa. It is definitely worth taking a look at.

After staying that evening in Jacksonville, we made our way to Amelia Island. To cater to Darin’s spontaneity, we took the highway less traveled to Amelia Island. We ate a great lunch at Marche Burette. http://www.aipfl.com/activities/Shopping/Marche_Burette.htm and we were able to soak up some needed sun in the rocking chairs next to the fountain. We definitely recommend the shops here at the Omni Amelia Island Plantation Resort! From there we soaked up the sun on the beach for a few hours in the cloudless skies and 60 degree weather.

After working on our tans, we ventured into downtown Fernandina Beach. We stumbled upon Eight Flags Antique Market. Wow – what a gem! One of a kind, affordable items. We bought home décor to remind us of our memorable vacation. We grabbed a beer at one of the Irish pubs to watch a Notre Dame bowl game win.

After driving throughout the neighborhoods to get a sense of the island property, we enjoyed a fantastic New Year’s Eve dinner at the Ritz Carlton. Salt had been booked for NYE for weeks so we ate at Café 4750. http://www.ritzcarlton.com/en/Properties/AmeliaIsland/Dining/Cafe4750/Default.htm We highly recommend this restaurant, the Eight Burger Sports Lounge at the hotel and all of Amelia Island for that matter!

We extend a warm and sincere thank you to the Jablonski-Diehl family for their southern hospitality and superb recommendations!

Funny Signs

Road Trip America has a great collection of funny signs. Today our picture from Alaska was chosen to be part of the collection. You can view our picture here.

National Park Fee-Free Days 2011

You know how much I love the National Parks (and not just because I can get my NPS Passport stamped!) I think they offer some of the best vacationing the US has to offer. In order to make sure everyone can take advantage of these treasures the National Park Service has expanded their Fee-Free Days.

In 2011 you will be able to visit the parks for free on the following dates:

January 15-17 (Martin Luther King, Jr. Birthday weekend)

April 16-24 (National Park Week)

June 21 (First day of summer)

September 24 (Public Lands Day)

November 11-13 (Veterans Day weekend)

Edwards is within driving distance of so many wonderful National Parks (including some of the most expensive ones) so take advantage of these fee-free days and plan a trip. Don't know where to start? First, check out our National Park summary. Second, National Parks Traveler is a wonderful travel blog that focuses on the goings on in America's National Parks! For more suggestions Budget Travel offers a whole section on the National Parks. Of course the National Park web page has a complete list of parks in California, or any other state for that matter.

Mammoth Lakes, California

Mammoth Lakes California is about 4 hours from Edwards. This year they had had a record snowfall of something like 15 feet in the month of December, which is obvious by the walls of snow along the roads! Being from New England, Dan and I just have to get out of the desert every once in a while to see it, just to know it’s still snowing somewhere! Even if you aren’t much of a skier, Mammoth can be tons of winter fun. And don’t worry if you are too busy to go this winter, due to its high elevation the ski area sometimes stays open all the way into July!
Lodging
Lodging in Mammoth Lakes is not cheap by any means. The best deal I found was the Cinnamon Bear Inn, a little Bed and Breakfast located in town. The rates here rivaled even the Quality Inn but I can’t recommend it. The bed was very uncomfortable, the walls (and ceilings) were paper thin (do people really need to walk around in their ski boots at 5am?), and the shower head was so low that at 5’3” I still had to lean back to get my head under the water!! Moving on. You will pay twice as much but sleep twice as well at one of the resorts hotels. Look at mammothmountain.com for lodging options. Mammoth Mountain Inn and Juniper Springs Resort are located right on the slopes if convenience to the slopes is what you are looking for, or the Village lodge located right in the heart of the resort village is convenient to the shops and restaurants and has a gondola that runs right to the slopes. Or take the bus for free from almost anywhere in town. For something a little more remote and rustic try the lodge or a cute cabin at Tamarack Lodge, especially if you want to go x-country skiing on the resorts many trails. This lodge caters more to the x-country group, and is located about a mile from the main village, but the bus runs there as well.
If you are on a budget look around and you might find something better than I did, or go in with a few other people for a condo which seems to be a better deal.
Skiing
Not much to say on this topic, again go to the mammoth website for tickets and information, but it’s a ski resort - you’ll figure it out. Make sure you ask for a military discount, as far as we could tell, there is a 50% off discount on the full lift ticket on weekdays and 25% on weekends. As far as rentals, go to outdoor rec here on base. While you are there pick up some equipment for some of my other winter activities listed below.
Scenic Gongola
The scenic gondola costs $23 dollars for adults, and is worth it! The view from the top is awesome and there is a little interpretive center and Top of the Sierras cafe. Plan it go around lunch and grab a bowl of chili or chowder to warm you up! Plus you will need a picture by the Mammoth Mountain summit sign, of course. If you have a lift ticket I think this trip is free but if you are too scared to ski/board down (yikes, I would be!!) you can still go to the top just for the view.

Dog Sledding
Highlight of the whole trip was dog sledding, hands down! Call ahead for this activity as they are a little hard to get a hold of due to to the fact that they are out with the dogs most of the day. The number is on their website mammothdogteams.com and try both numbers - I had more luck getting an answer or a voicemail at (760)914-1019. The price is $90 per adult for a 50 minute ride, but it was sooo worth it!! Bring cash or a check because you are basically meeting a couple guys and their dogs in the middle of a frozen meadow... i.e. no credit card machine! Bring your camera for the excellent views and dress to be outside for an hour. Get there early to meet and pet the dogs, who are so sweet and love the attention! They love to run, but this is not a fast ride, just a fun way to be in the beautiful outdoors and experience an old-fashioned way of getting around.

Snowshoeing
Here is one activity in Mammoth you won’t have to pay a lot for. Rent snowshoes from outdoor rec and head down to Tamarack lodge. You can use their snowshoe trail for free. Walk down a groomed trail until you get to the start of the snowshoe trail where the tracks of other snowshoe-ers will guide you around another beautiful peak. Even if you get warm walking the trail, bring your jacket and hat because you will be on the exposed side of a mountain about halfway through the trail. The trail is not well marked, so be adventurous like we were and head off the trail back to the general direction of the lodge (okay we weren’t being adventurous, we were lost...). Off the trail you will get the true experience of snowshoeing through deep powder!
Never been snowshoeing? Let a New England girl give you a quick lesson. 1. Strap on snowshoes snugly around snow boots. 2. Start walking...
Yes, it may feel awkward at first and you have to lift your feet higher than normal and set them a little wider apart, but for the most part this is an activity that is fun and requires no real lessons. You might be surprised how much you still sink in the snow, but take your foot out and step down in some fresh powder... you might be up to your waist in snow!
X-country skiing
So on to the activities we didn’t do - x-country skiing trails are also available at Tamarack lodge, for this you will need a trail pass and rentals, unless you brought skis and poles from outdoor rec. Lessons are available, and the trails are extensive! Make sure you check out the lobby of the lodge with its stone fireplace and old-timey feel, and pick up some hot chocolate at the snack bar before you head back into town.
Tubing
Tubing is available at Sledz which is on the red bus line on the way to the main lodge. They have a tow rope for hours of fun without getting tired. They also only take cash I’m told, but the price is something like $25/hour.
Skating
We happened to notice a skating rink in town on our way out to dinner, located on Old Mammoth Road next to Rafter’s restaurant complete with large light-up snowmen. We forgot our skates and didn’t stop to ask about rentals or pricing, but check it out if that is something you like to do (they might have skates at outdoor rec too, you would have to check).

Lunch at Top of the Sierra

Food!
Here is a list of the places we ate at and a brief description. We liked almost everything we ate, and there were plenty of other places we never tried that are probably great too!
Whiskey Creek - brewery-style restaurant located beneath the Mammoth Brewing company tasting room. Very good food, a little higher priced.
Shae Shat’s Bakery - although Shat’s in Bishop claims no affiliation, this bakery hopes to benefit from Eric’s fame, who knows what the real story is, but the bottom line is if you want a latte and pastry, Shat’s is the perfect stop.
Top of the Sierra Cafe- this is the one at the top of the scenic gondola, go for the chili or soup. I had the veggie paninni which turned out to be a dry salad on dry bread... only not so great thing I ate the whole trip.
Rafters - very snazzy place, great if you like wine! Portions are smaller, so get a salad too or save room for creme brule!
Base Camp cafe - very casual but good food, we had breakfast here but heard the dinner was good too! Less expensive choice as well.
Tom’s Pizza - Pesto Pizza was awesome, felt like a college town pizza place, TV’s to watch the game.
The Auld Dubliner - located in the village this Irish pub had good food and lots of beers on draft. I had the shepherd’s pie and Dan the Guiness beef stew, both of which were good traditional Irish comfort food.
Most of these restaurants have websites and menus online - I find knowing a few places I’d like to try before we go takes some of the time out of “where should we eat this time?”

So if you have a long weekend and you are prepared to spend some money, Mammoth is an awesome destination for some winter fun!

Postmarked Tombstone

The one thing Jeff wanted to do on this trip was go into a mine... so we were up and out of Tuscon before the sun heading down Highway 80 to Tombstone.

You reach Boothill Graveyard before you reach the town - its free to walk through the graveyard but you are forced through a gift shop on your way in and out. In the graveyard head to the left for some old tombs with great rhyming epitaphs. Unfortunately, we were in such a hurry we forgot to charge the camera the night before - so no pictures of the "We're open! We know your dying to get in" sign on the gift shop door. This stop will take you 10min tops - it took us 5min because who wants to be wandering in a graveyard when its freezing.

Just down the road is Tombstone. The night before my friend told us about its cute and touristy attractions - unfortunately we arrived before anything was open. We parked and walked down the boardwalk, snapped a picture of the OK Corral with the cell phone and got back in the car and headed toward Bisbee.

We arrived in Bisbee just in time to make the 9am Queen Mine Tour. As it was the first week of January, we were the only people on the tour. So after being outfitted in hats, slickers and mining lights we were taken by train down into the mine. You stop a few times and get a chance to explore, with your guide, parts of the mine. Our tour guide was fantastic - a former mine worker himself he was able to tell us stories of both the Queen Mine and the open pit Lavender Mine located right next door. The tour lasts about an hour and is appropriate for all ages as long as they can make it up 40 or so stairs. Five tours are given daily and in the summer reservations are recommended and it costs $13.

After the tour head over to The Copper Queen Hotel for breakfast. Don't search around town for something else, because in the winter you won't find anyone else serving breakfast and if you look around for too long you'll miss breakfast time! The Bisbee breakfast is the real winner - eggs, hasbrowns, toast and bacon or ham. Keep a menu and read about the three ghosts that have taken up residence in the hotel while your breakfast is prepared.

As you leave town pull into the Lavender Pit Mine "scenic view" to take in the vastness of the Lavender Pit mine. Luckily we were able to charge the camera in the car - because you don't want to miss capturing the memories of your family donned in parkas looking for the surface!

Saguaro National Park

After leaving Biosphere 2 we headed across Tuscon to Saguaro National Park. I had lots of questions about the Giant Saguaro and figured the National Park was a good place to start.

The Giant Saguaro were almost brought to extinction by cattle ranching and invasive plant species. In fact the park is split into two parts because they feared preserving just one forest wouldn't be enough. They are much more pervasive now, thanks to protective state laws, but the state still requires each Giant Saguaro sold to be registered with the state.

From the moment you enter the park you are treated to sweeping vistas of Saguaro forest. When we visited in early January it was cold and getting dark so we did not venture down any of paths into the forest. We did stop into the visitors center where a Ranger handed us a book with all the facts about the Giant Saguaro that we could browse at our leisure. The movie focuses more on the native cultures that arose around the Saguaro forest, so if you want to learn about these giants ask the ranger for the Saguaro Binder.

In the wild the Giant Saguaro don't grow their first arm until they are between 80-100 years old, but after that can grow a new arm every few years. The bands in their trunks are evidence of frosts - which are the Giant Saguaro's greatest enemy. These cactus live to be about 200 years old, and then begin to decay leaving only their rigid interior structure behind. The visitors center has some wonderful examples of decaying cactus.

Each side of the park has a scenic driving tour you can take. We had just enough daylight to take the scenic drive on the west side of the park. The ranger told us it was passable to all vehicles, and the dirt road proved passable but very bumpy , so take it slow. We stopped a few times to venture out into the forest on short (.5 mile) walks to see other types of cactus and some petroglyphs.

With the sun setting, we headed back across town for 6pm Mass at Saint Francis de Sales and then back into downtown for dinner with a friend at El Charro Cafe in downtown. Turns out El Charro is the nation's oldest Mexican restaurant in continuous operation by the same family. Gourmet magazine named it one of the 21 legendary American restaurants you must visit. We found the food and service to be excellent. It was the perfect end to our busy Arizona day.

Biosphere 2

Biosphere 2 is out in the middle of nowhere Arizona - about 1 hour outside of Tuscon - but is worth the visit.
I guess I expected an actual sphere, but what you see in the picture is the glass enclosed mini-earth. The glass pyramid structure is home to the climatically different eco-zones. The white structure in the middle was the home to the "biospherians" for the two years they lived in the enclosure. The dome structure to the far right is one of the buildings two "lungs" that maintained consistent pressure in the whole structure - preventing it from collapsing in on itself.

The Biosphere is currently being used by the University of Arizona for research, but at the time of occupation had livestock, rice patties and even a Caribbean ocean. As you walk from zone to zone you won't believe that this was built for only 150 million.

The Public Guided Tour is a comprehensive, 45 min walking tour. It includes a video about the biosphere and its inhabitants, both plant and animal, and then a compound walk through. After the tour you can walk through the living quarters -which are 90's fabulous and wonder how the six individuals managed to eat only what they grew for two years. There is also an underwater viewing area you can explore on your own, although since cleaning the glass is against their "natural" policy there is not very much to see. Admission is a steep $20, but they do offer a military discount (along with several other discounts.) Jeff loved the engineering portions of the tour - and we can't stop talking about the lung design. I loved hearing about the drama surrounding the biospherians - including a pizza delivery to the compound and one of the woman leaving for a medical emergency. (Don't worry she was fine!)

I really cannot put into words how cool and weird this place is. You certainly don't need to come here more then once - and its starting to fall into a bit of disrepair - but if you remember reading about this at all in your science class, have some free time and find yourself just outside Tuscon it is worth checking out. Oh! Make sure to pack your lunch because although the Biospherians may have gotten Pizza delivered there are not many food options nearby.

Here is one final picture from inside the Biosphere:

Casa Grande

There is a lot to see between Phoenix and Tuscon so we took our time and hit as many of the landmarks (and National Parks) as we could. We lost an hour heading into Arizona so our start on Sunday was a bit delayed. Jeff would also add that we had to drive nearly 2 miles out of our way so that I could have some Starbucks - I say what's 2 miles when your headed all the way to Texas!

The Casa Grade Ruins National Monument is just off the 10 between Phoenix and Tuscon. Casa Grade is a 3 story Hohokam ritual house built from caliche. You can actually see it - or more specifically the large roof they have built over it - miles before you turn into the protected land. The video in the visitors center talks about the archeological digs they have been doing in the area, but will leave you with lots of questions about Case Grade and its large roof. Heading outside to see the building will give you a sense of how enormous it really is. but the interpretive signs never seem to address the house or its origin. Just when we were about to leave confused a park volunteer asked if she could show us her favorite artifact in the small museum - a paint pot with the original pigmentation still intact. Next thing we knew she had a binder of old pictures of Casa Grade and all of our questions were answered. They are actually finding so many artifacts out here that once they dig them up they put them back and fill it in with sterile gravel for preservation - there is nowhere else to put everything.

Casa Grade is definitely worth a stop and it will take you under 30min to see everything and you get an NPS Parks Passport Stamp. Plus when you leave you can debate if you think the roof looks more like an alien spacecraft or a large picnic tent.

Dates & Dinosaurs

Day one we decided we wanted to get to Phoenix, AZ, getting us out of range of weekend trips before we really decided to do anything crazy. (We have to leave something for when we get back to Edwards!) The short winter days means that daylight is limited. Phoenix is about a 6 hour drive from Edwards leaving us plenty of time to get things packed before heading out - I hate being rushed when leaving for a long trip - so this was perfect timing.

Jeff and I always debate about whether to leave from the South or the North gate when heading toward PalmSprings but since he was driving we left via the North gate. (I'm looking for someone who can prove that the south gate provides a more direct route to the 215.) Regardless of how you get there, Palm Springs is about 3 hours away from base and is a great place for your first min-break. We were in Palm Springs last February and had a blast, but there is more to do then one weekend can hold. This small stop allowed us to check off a few things from our list.

First, Hadleys Fruit Orchard claims to have the Best Date Shake in California - so we had to stop and check it out. There is some debate online about if Hadleys should be able to count their shake since they used crystallized dates and not fresh ones. Despite the controversy we stopped to check it out. Hadleys has a small restaurant where you can order the date shake - they also have sandwiches if you need a bite to eat. The bulk of Hadleys though is dried fruit and snacks and resembles Casa de Fruta on the way to San Fransisco. I know your dying to know what we thought of the shake - personally I like the one made with fresh dates better. but that is just my opinion. It's certainly worth the stop to see if you think Hadleys has California's Best Date Shake.

Just down the road are the Cabazon Dinosaurs, which claim to be the worlds largest dinosaurs, but, in my mind anyway, are more famous for being featured in PeeWee's Big Adventure. It is completely free to take your picture in front of the two large dinosaurs and there is a gift store inside the belly of the non-T-Rex dinosaur that you enter through a door in the foot. To go inside the T-Rex or see any of the other robotic dinosaurs you will need to pay admission to the park. This is a photo opportunity you cannot miss!

The drive from the dinosaurs into Palm Springs is easy and takes you through some beautiful windmill farms. We dropped into Palm Springs for lunch at our favorite place - Fisherman's Market & Grill. They have ample street parking and a free city lot right next door, meaning you won't spend any time looking for parking. I had the grilled mahi-mahi fish tacos and Jeff ordered the Grilled Fish of the Day sandwich - both come with a side so if you don't like coleslaw be sure to ask for something else. As always the food was delicious and fast so we were back on the road in no time.

Next stop Phoenix!

Road Trip!

For as much as my husband is an airplane guy, he cannot turn down a good road trip. When we found out we would be making a "mini-move" for a few months to Texas his head filled with great road trip ideas. We are taking five days to drive from Southern California to Northeastern Texas and have some great stops planned along the way. We looked to RoadTripAmerica and Road Trip USA for some suggested routes and are still debating some side trips that will be time dependent. We hopefully won't be eating too much fast food - thanks to the internet and sites like Google's dining guides and Trip Advisor we have already found a few great options in towns along the way.

While we thought we were keeping this blog mainly for our own posterity and to give us a place to send friends when the asked where we stayed or what we ate on one of our day trips, we discovered over the Holidays that many of you are family and friends just wondering where we are at any particular time. We are going to do our best to update the blog as we travel but you can always check Twitter or Facebook as they are a bit easier to update from the road.